


Felines and Spell Books

by Chionee



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Wizards, M/M, Minor pairings - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Witchcraft, and tutti quanti, boy idk where i'm going, curse, mythical creatures, please be patient, spells
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-04-24 14:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19175626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chionee/pseuds/Chionee
Summary: And there he was, with a cursed tiger sleeping in the middle of his shop. What a mess.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thank you for dropping by!  
> Though the story takes place in France and they technically all speak French, for obvious reasons the dialogues are all in English. There will probably be a few French words regardless that I will translate at the end, but I will try to keep it at the minimum.
> 
> Enjoy your reading!

The warm light of dusk was giving the shop a queer atmosphere, some semblance of a concealed secret room. Ambient dust was floating around aimlessly, flirting with the surface of counters and neatly ordered shelves. For some, sunset might portend the end of a tiring day and the time to return home, and for others the beginning of labor. Sanji was one of the others.

Paris was a busy town at any time of the day. Sanji knew it too well. Weaving through the crowd skilfully, he quickened his pace to escape the stream of hurried workers and rush into an emptier alley. Thankfully, the boundary between the fifth arrondissement and the fourteenth was near and he would soon be able to move more easily.

Street lights were switched on as he went, providing visibility where the sun wouldn’t any more that day. Still, it was barely past five in the afternoon. Sanji was not fond of the winter months for multiple reasons, and short days was one of them, which contradicted his very nature. In his defense, he also was not fond of traditions.

When he eventually set a foot in the shop, only the clear sound of the carillon above the door welcomed him in. Sighing, he undid his scarf and went to hang it on the coat rack farther away, only to change in mind upon passing the counter. With a firm gesture, he whipped the sleeping form with the soft fabric and then shed his coat, not taking the time to see the man start with a strangled squeak. “Hey-! You didn’t have to hit me!”

“You’re here to welcome customers, Usopp. Not to slack off. I have told you so on multiple occasions,” the blond chanted while putting water and milk to heat for a cup of tea.

“ _Nobody_ comes here during the daytime, apart from lost tourists and curious kids. Your clientele always comes here after dark.”

Sanji rolled his eyes. They’d had his little argument so many times he lost the count. “I didn’t forbid you to do anything. Just don’t fall asleep on the counter. You know it’s bad for the shop’s reputation.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Usopp yawned and stretched before getting up to join Sanji in the back room. A mug was thrust into his hand and steaming liquid poured into the recipient, warming his palms. The light fragrance of cinnamon and cardamom flooded his nose pleasantly and he let himself lean against the door frame. Carefully, he took a first sip to taste the beverage, eying Sanji drinking his own. He briefly wondered what would be the effects of the tea, but since Sanji had certainly told him before, he kept his mouth shut.

Quietly, they drank their tea. Just as Sanji was about to finish his own, the carillon of the front door chimed at the door opening. Quick to swallow the last drops, he put the cup onto a small table and headed for the main room, greeting the entering person.

With this first customer, his shift began. He waved Usopp goodbye while taking care of the order, reminding him to bring something to keep him entertained next time, to which Usopp agreeded to absent-mindedly, visibly deep in thought. Sanji smiled, knowing he probably just had an idea for a future canvas and didn’t insist.

The night was long and scattered with regular visitors looking for charms and spells of various natures. It was rarer to see new faces around here at this time of the night, but not too uncommon. This time, Sanji offered a pouch of dried camellias and yarrow to a group of tipsy girls who had lost themselves in the fourteenth just around the witching hour, to make sure they’d stay safe on their way home.

Just as the door closed behind them, the drunk giggling muffled as they went, a face popped through the shelf behind him. “Sanji!”

“WHAT THE-! Oh my _god_ , Luffy, I told you not to do that!” Sanji squealed, a hand over his heart to emphasize his shock. “You’re lucky you’re a fucking ghost or I would have cave your skull in.”

The newcomer offered a sheepish laugh and proceeded to extract his incorporeal body out of the wall, propping himself on the counter. “So, what brings you here?” The wizard asked once calmed. “Couldn’t find Brook in the catacombs?”

“Naw. In fact, I was on my way to see him, but I found something in the graveyard so I thought I’d come to see you instead.”

Sanji raised his eyebrows, putting his face in his hand after stifling a yawn. “Something huh? What’s it about?”

“A tiger,” Luffy said matter-of-factly.

Sanji was about to respond something generic when his brain registered what the boy had just said, leaving him unable to form a proper sentence for a few moments, lips agape. “A _tiger_?” He finally settled for, straightening on his stool.

Luffy shrugged. “Yeah. It wasn’t here last night. But it definitely is now. It was sleeping when I left, it’s probably still there,” the specter smiled, leaning forward like he was about to confess a secret. “Wanna come and see?”

“Fuck no,” Sanji answered straightaway. “I’m not getting near a wild beast. Unlike you, I have a body to preserve and I’m not going to be its next meal.”

“Party pooper,” Luffy blew his cheeks, crossing his arms before him.

The wizard rolled his eyes. “It’s probably from a zoo nearby. It doesn’t explain how it escaped and how it made it as far as the graveyard without anyone noticing. But still, it’s a _tiger_ , Luffy.”

The boy hummed, floating out of his perch up to the ceiling, where he stagnated. Sanji followed his move with his gaze. “You know, it didn’t seem mean.” Luffy tried but Sanji shook his head.

“It was sleeping. You said so yourself. How can you know if it’s mean or not?”

“Just a feeling.” Luffy merged partially with the ceiling, making him look like he was swimming in it. “Ah, I forgot to tell you. It looked scrawny. Not that I’m a tiger specialist, but yeah.”

Conflicted feelings made the wizard’s stomach knot. “All the more reason not to go see it. If it’s hungry, it will obviously attack me to eat.”

The smile on Luffy’s face told him he knew very well the idea of letting a living being starve didn’t sit well with him. But damn it! It was still a wild beast able to kill him whenever it wanted.

“Don’t you think it’s weird? There’s a starving tiger sleeping in a graveyard.”

Sanji rubbed his palms against his face, sighing anew against them. Luffy had a point. If the tiger was thin, it couldn’t come from a zoo. The police would have been involved at this point and the news would have talked about it. This beast was probably more than a mere tiger. Witchcraft could be involved and _this_ could be a reason why Sanji would follow Luffy at the graveyard.

“Alright, I’ll come,” he said, getting up to retrieve his coat while Luffy exclaimed his joy with a loud _yeah!_ “I’m warning you, though. If this tiger is in good health and completely normal, I leave.”

“You won’t be disappointed!” The ghost exclaimed just before exiting the shop through the door, followed by Sanji.

After switching off the lights and locking the door up, they both made their way in the streets towards the graveyard. Luckily, the place was close and they arrived rather quickly which was a blessing considering the cold temperatures of the season.

A simple spell was all it took to unlock the gate. Warily, Sanji followed Luffy through the rows of well-maintained graves, pushing his nose in his scarf and his hands further down his coat pockets. The hope that the tiger was gone or just a fantasy of Luffy’s mind was nagging at the back of his head. From time to time, he cursed himself to be too complacent.

The full moon was providing just enough light to see where he was going, which he was thankful for. Tripping on a tomb didn’t figure on his to-do list. Before him, Luffy minded neither the darkness nor the cold, moving freely from row to row, a childish tune resonating in the air. The grotesque situation would have scared any sane person away.

“Ah! There it is!” Sanji promptly hushed him, eying him with exasperation. Without any kind of worry, Luffy crouched next to the tiger. The wizard couldn’t deny its existence anymore, to his disappointment.

The tiger was still sound asleep, its even breathing letting little puffs of cold air out of its snout. In the dim light, the wizard couldn’t tell if the beast was indeed in a state of starvation, but curled up on itself as it was, it sure didn’t look big. Worrying his lip, Sanji took a few measured steps ahead, getting too close to the animal than he was comfortable with.

“See?” Luffy whispered. “I wasn’t lying.”

“Well, fuck,” was all the blond could say for the moment. Being used to weird events wasn’t nearly enough to prepare him for that. Sure, he was a wizard. He was friends with a ghost and moving skeleton, worked with mediums and other magic connoisseurs and acknowledged strange occurrence every other day, but not this. Not a starving tiger in a graveyard. “So what now?”

“You don’t know?” Luffy asked, surprise laced with his voice. He looked up to him, confusion making him frown. “I thought you’d be able to do something for it.”

“I’m a wizard, not a vet. I don’t even know where to start!”

The tiger suddenly emitted a pained growl, curling up on itself even more. Its snout vanished under a thick paw and its tail was put flat against its body. Sanji’s heart squeezed at the sight.

“Awh, man, it’s really cold,” Luffy sighed, reaching to pet the beast in some kind of reflex. Unfortunately, his hand just passed through it, leaving the boy pouting in obvious frustration. “Maybe you-” he started, but Sanji, who saw right through him, cut him.

“I’m not bringing it in the shop. No way.”

“But come on!” The ghost insisted. “It’s freezing in here! And it’s hungry! We can’t leave it here.”

Sanji was about to argue that yes, they could, when he sensed something strange coming from the tiger. Arching his brows curiously, he crouched next to Luffy, putting a cautious hand on its collar. Immediately, he understood what was going on with it.

“It’s cursed,” he croaked almost inaudibly. “The tiger’s cursed.” Now that he was close to it, it was no use denying its existence. He could feel the faint sensation of a well-cast spell, and the darkness that was surrounding it.

One thing was certain, he couldn’t not intervene now that he was sure the beast was linked to witchcraft. Who knew what would happen to any human being crossing its path. But even cursed, the tiger was still a tiger and Sanji wasn’t keen to take care of it in his shop in the middle of Paris. Luffy remained silent, letting him do his reasoning.

Just as he was about to make his mind, he felt the tiger move under his palm, making him start with a gasp. Slowly, the tiger rose its head, yawning deeply before laying its gaze on the wizard. Petrified, Sanji didn’t have the mind to take a step back, staring at two, strangely shining golden irises.

When he thought the tiger would either flee or bite his head off, it simply blinked with calculated slowness, a mimic Sanji easily recognized as a feline way to show they were calm. The blond let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and carefully got up on his feet. “Come on, Luffy. Let’s get it in a warm place, at least.”

Luffy beamed and actively motioned the tiger to get up on its feet until it complied. Sanji observed them, wondering why the beast was so trusting. He knew for a fact that desperate animals usually are the hardest to approach, but this one just let itself be guided. “The _hell_ I just put myself into,” the wizard mumbled to himself.

Quickly, they left the graveyard, Sanji forcing the pace to go back to the shop as fast as possible, both to avoid crossing someone’s path and to finally get inside a warm place. The tiger, despite its obvious bad state, was trotting quite easily a few meters behind him.

The moment he opened the door of the shop, relief made him sigh. He let the tiger come in, closing and locking the door behind him, drawing the curtain all the while. When he turned around, the beast had collapsed on the floor in the middle of the room, his breathing somewhat heavy. Now that he could get a look at it with lights on, it was clear the tiger hadn’t eaten properly in a while.

Mind on auto-pilot, he proceeded to get the blankets he always kept somewhere in the backroom to cover the animal with, making sure it was entirely wrapped in them. The tiger let himself be handled, visibly too tired to bother, and enjoying the warmth anyway.

“Sanji! Do you have something in there to give it to eat?” Luffy’s voice came from the storage room. The instant that followed, his hand appeared through the door, looking at the wizard. “Do you think it likes chocolate?”

“I don’t think it does, no, and I’m quite certain it is not recommended to give chocolate to a tiger anyway. It must eat meat, but I don’t have any here. And today is Sunday.” Acknowledging the new issue, Sanji sighed, sitting crossed-legged next to the tiger. “I’ll have to go to the market. But I don’t really want to leave it alone in here while I’m gone.”

“I can stay here, y’know.”

“You know what I mean. You being incorporeal won’t help if something happen.” Sanji could hear Luffy grumble, which made him smile. “Though I appreciate the offer. You know I trust you.”

“Still, I’m sure it’s gonna be okay,” Luffy vowed, floating next to them. “You saw it, right? It’s not bad.”

“I know, it’s its curse that worries me. I don’t know that it’s about, and what it causes to the beast. I’d rather be there if anything happens.”

The ghost deflated a little but hummed in agreement, laying on his back so his head was next to the tiger. “Maybe you could ask Robin.”

“It was my attention, yes. We’re in the middle of the night, though, and I don’t want to disturb her at his bloody hour. I’ll call her later.”

Rubbing his eyes to make the fatigue go away, Sanji stood up and made his way into the back room. Making coffee to brew, he then turned to a bookshelf, reading the names of the volumes classified there, a long finger following his gaze, until he found the spell book he was looking for.

Tucking it under his arm, he poured himself a cup of steaming coffee before retreating to the main room, sitting at the counter. Luffy propped himself back up next to him, eying the grimoire with interest. “You think you can find what the curse is about?”

“Probably,” Sanji shrugged with a first sip. “I have to try, at least. It’s not like we have anything better to do till dawn. I trust you not to go scare the neighbors.”

Luffy made a face betraying his boredom and went back next to the tiger. Sanji smiled at that. “You can go have fun, but not here. It’d be a pain to explain to the police and the neighbors why there’s a tiger in my shop after they knock here because they saw a scrawny, ghostlike boy in their kitchen.”

“I miss haunting kitchens!” Luffy groaned, rolling on himself with a pout. “I wish I could eat things. I want meat.”

Sanji let a snort out, not lifting his gaze off the book he was reading. “I’ll make a potion if you stay calm.”

“You’re the best!”

“Fuck yeah I am,” Sanji deadpanned, a sly smile dangling on his lips.


	2. Safran

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit. That was what he had forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for reading the prologue. Your hype means so much to me! I hope you will enjoy the rest of the story :)  
> All the French words are followed by an asterisk and translated at the end of the chapter.  
> Enjoy your reading!

Sanji liked having control over his life. He had grown into a man who found comfort in his routine, despite how uncommon it was. And even if he would follow his more adventurous friends to the end of the world or the pit of hell, he found himself enjoying his life like it was.

And there he was, with a cursed tiger sleeping in the middle of his shop. What a mess.

Seven in the morning rolled by faster than he thought. Putting a bookmark between the pages he was reading, Sanji allowed himself to lift his gaze up to the ceiling, ruffling his hair and stretching his sleepy muscles until his back popped, making him groan.

He got up, casting a quick glance to the tiger as he made his way to the backroom to make more coffee. The beast had moved in its sleep, spreading itself like a cat, the blankets now covering more the floor around it than the tiger itself.

Luffy had vanished sometime during the night to busy himself. Sanji hadn’t asked what he had been up to, but had known it would feature ghost activities. He probably went to see Brook as well.

Yawning against the palm of his hand, he fetched his phone with the other, skipping through his contacts until he found Robin’s one. He dialed the number, pressed the phone against his ear and let the ring tone play, hoping she would be already awake.

Thankfully, her voice echoed on the other side of the line, putting a smile on his face. “Good morning,” he welcomed. “I’m extremely sorry to disturb you this early, I hope I didn’t wake you up.”

Robin's light laugh improved his mood. She assured him she’d been awake for a moment already and asked what was the reason of his morning call. Sanji proceeded to retell the night in broad terms, eying the tiger from the doorway when he described it to Robin.

“I see,” she said after he concluded his story. “Do you want me to come and examine it? I could bring meat for it to eat.”

“Ah, you read my mind,” Sanji felt himself blush in slight embarrassment. He didn’t even add the time to ask her anything. “Thank you. I really appreciate your help.”

“I’ll be on my way then. The earlier I arrive, the more chances you have to survive.”

With a chuckle, she hung up, leaving Sanji with uneasiness churning up his stomach. Up until now, the tiger had been nothing more than a big cat, not an ounce of hostility in it. But its hunger could overpower it anytime, and Sanji would rather feed it before it decided _he_ was its next meal.

Robin would probably be there within the hour. In the meantime, Sanji prepared the potion he had promised Luffy, storing it with a label on the shelf behind the counter. Not even a minute later, brief knocks resounded against the entrance door, announcing a newcomer.

Sanji checked Robin was the one behind the door before letting her in, offering to take the two grocery bags she brought with her. “Shit- err, sorry. Wow, you didn’t have to bring this much,” he marveled at the weight his arms were greeted with. He promptly went into the backroom to arrange the meat on a tray while Robin crouch next to the tiger, which was now awake and watching her blankly.

“Well, a tiger needs to eat almost twenty kilograms of meat every day to stay healthy. What I brought isn’t even close to that. But given the famished state you described, eating this much wouldn’t do any good.”

Sanji hummed in agreement and hastened to bring the tray to the tiger. It sniffed the food warily for a moment before digging in, and the wizard felt a wave of relief wash over him. He let Robin examine the tiger in silence while it ate. In a few minutes, it had engulfed the whole tray. It huffed in contentment, licking its chops lazily.

“The curse is surprisingly complex,” Robin announced, ruffling gently the collar of the animal. “But I have good news, in a sense.”

“So you can feel it too,” Sanji wondered under his breath. “What good news?”

“I’m pretty sure I recognize this kind of spell. It’s a rarely seen one, and I’ll have to do some research to be sure of myself, but I’m almost fully convinced it’s a shifting curse. Our friend here is probably human.”

Sanji wanted to ask how she could be so sure about that, but some things he experienced with the tiger encouraged this hypothesis. For a hungry, but otherwise healthy beast, the tiger sure was docile. He didn’t attack him, didn’t even try to look intimidating and didn’t seem reluctant to follow him in the streets of Paris. Didn’t seem to be suspicious. If it was indeed human, at least it could explain why it seemed trusting, but not why the presence of a stranger didn’t unsettle it in a first place, as it should have.

“I don’t know under what circumstances it could turn back, if it indeed is a shifting spell,” Robin continued. “It could be random, follow a time pattern or need an external stimulus. I’ll have to dig into my books to find out.”

“I’ll do my own research,” Sanji piped. “I’ll call you if I get any lead or if, you know,” he gestured to the tiger, “it changes back to a human. Or anything else.”

“I’ll be sure to keep you updated as well,” Robin assured, getting up. With a last pat on the tiger’s head, she slipped her coat she had left on the counter back on. “Will you be alright on your own?”

“Yeah. I think so. Thank you again for your help. Will you tell Franky about that?”

Robin smirked. “You know I can’t keep secrets from him for too long. Rest assured, though, he will never show up here as a policeman.”

“That’s probably more worrying if you ask me. I don’t want him to believe I deliberately adopted a tiger and start thinking a gigantic cat tree would look wonderful in here.”

“I’ll be sure to contain his excitement, then,” she laughed. “If you’ll excuse me, now. He’s probably starting to wonder why I left this early with all our meat stock.”

Sanji thanked her again, going to open the door for her. But before he could get a hold on the knob, the door flung open. For a moment, Sanji cursed himself for not having locked the shop back up and wondered who the hell would come in here a Sunday morning, until the newcomer pulled on their scarf and beanie to uncover their face, revealing the freckled cheeks and ginger hair of Nami.

Instantly, a smile replaced his confused frown and he greeted her. Her eyes landed forthwith on the tiger and widened, the shock clear on her face. She threw him a bewildered look.

“Ah- hum, well-” he stuttered, placing himself between the beast and her reflexively. “You have nothing to fear. This tiger isn’t feral- or well I guess it isn’t. But anyway! He’s docile and just ate so there’s no risk of an attack.”

“I know full well you wouldn’t let a wild animal in here if you weren’t sure it means no harm,” she stated, tip-toeing to get a better look over his shoulder at the tiger, which eyed her in return. Her eyes shone with curiosity. “I’m more interested in _how_ it got here.”

“Ah, well, it’s a weird story.”

“Everything here is weird, Sanji,” she sing-sang, her Swedish accent audible. “That’s why I love coming here. Hey Robin!” She then added, waving at her briefly. Robin answered with a curt nod and slipped through the door, waving at them both one last time before disappearing into the street.

A shiver ran down the wizard’s back and he quickly closed the door, this time making sure to lock it, and offered to take Nami’s coat. She complied, leaving her backpack near the entrance before leaning on the counter, her elbows supporting her. She looked at the tiger curiously, seemingly wondering if it was safe to come closer.

“It didn’t bite any of our heads off, so I’d say it’s pretty safe to approach it, but we never know,” Sanji explained. “Robin thinks it’s a shifter. That’s plausible, but it still is a beast. Do you want something to warm you up?”

“A shifter, you say,” she echoed lowly, nodding at the offer he just made. “I bet she’s right.”

Sanji chuckled, getting into motion to prepare her beverage. “How come you’re up so early on a Sunday?”

“Oh, right, I was on my way to the library to study. Figured I’d come to say hi before you close up. I didn’t expect _this_ ,” she gestured at the tiger. “Witchcraft stuff is still so foreign to me.”

“I have to say, even _I_ didn’t expect to experience this, ever. I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

He heard Nami hummed in agreement. “So,” she started after a few moments of silence, “what’s the story behind all this?”

“I found it!” Suddenly came Luffy’s voice.

Nami screeched in surprise, then proceeded to call the poor ghost every name possible, making Sanji wince in sympathy. Luffy only laughed it off, sounding pleased with his trick. The wizard shook his head, letting the atmosphere cool down as he stirred the melting chocolate, mixing it with the milk.

Luffy proceeded to retell their nocturnal adventure once the redhead calmed down. Sanji listened distractedly, attention focused on the beverage. When the specter concluded, he got back to them, handing Nami her hot cocoa.

“Oh my god, you’re going to get me fat!” she complained halfheartedly, scooping a bit of melting whipped cream to lick it off. “Are you fattening me for a weird wizard ritual I should know about?”

“I would never!” Sanji assured with exaggerated indignation.

Nami smiled behind her mug before gazing back at the tiger. “That whole story sounds kinda crazy. Though I’m probably not in the best position to say that.” She took careful sips as the content was a bit hot, contentment relaxing her features completely. “I know it will sound redundant, but you really should consider opening a restaurant or something. You’d get really popular.”

“I trust your word, dear,” he smiled broadly at her. “However, this shop is enough for me for the time being. I don’t think I would be able to run a restaurant with this kind of unexpected emergencies,” he explained, nodding at the tiger. “My place is here.”

She pouted a bit but didn’t press, which he was grateful for. He took the mug when she finished its content, carrying it back to the backroom to get it washed. Luffy’s head appeared through the countertop, fidgeting like a child waiting for a surprise. Which was exactly the case.

“Yes, I prepared the serum,” promised Sanji. “And yes, I will give it to you. What do you have to say?”

“I won’t try to pass through the walls until the effects wear off,” the ghost recited solemnly. “If I do, you won’t make the potion again.”

“Right. And why is that?”

Luffy smiled at some reminiscences. “Because I already broke three windows and a bookshelf!”

“That’s not something you should be proud of!” The wizard scolded.

Luffy’s laughter echoed in the shop. He extracted himself from the piece of furniture, floating around aimlessly until Sanji motioned him to come over. He placed himself just above the counter while the wizard took the vial from the shelf. Dipping the tip of a metal pen into it, he quietly asked Luffy not to move while he drew the symbols of his spell on his forehead, under the scrutinizing eyes of both Nami and the tiger.

Reacting to the host it was designed for, the ink didn’t go through the ghost like any other physical matter would have, staying in place instead, progressively making Luffy’s body corporeal. With a last stroke to seal the spell, Sanji straightened, admiring his handiwork and then smiling to Luffy. “How do you feel?”

The ghost, now all flesh and bones, jumped in the wizard’s arms as a test, surprising the other. Their bodies crashed against one another, knocking the air out of the blond’s lungs. Catching them both on the self behind, Sanji quickly put the boy back on the counter, cursing at him for being so spontaneous.

“It works great!” Luffy beamed, turning on himself to jump on Nami next.

“Yeah, I felt that alright. Don’t smother Nami!”

The redhead gestured to show him it was alright, letting Luffy cling to her and patting his head. “You’re always enthusiastic about this spell,” she commented all the while.

“Well, yeah. I can feel things thanks to it so I’m definitely happy about this!”

Luffy abruptly entangled himself, looking eager to go hug many other things. His next target was the last living being there was in the room, the tiger. Sanji watched the beast get what seemed to be a flash of realization in its eyes, getting up on its feet to get a few careful steps back. The boy, as oblivious as a newborn, launched himself forward and hooked his arms around the tiger’s collar, pressing his face flush against its fur.

The tiger let a distressed growl out, trying to get out of the fierce grip. Sanji bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from laughing. Corporeal Luffy was nice, if not a bit clingy. The fact that the beast saw what was coming was making the situation all the funnier. “Alright, I suggest you let the poor tiger go before it chews your arms off. That would be a shame for a ghost who’s initially incorporeal.”

Luffy pouted, rubbing his face against the fur. “But it’s soft! You should try it. Nami, come and try!”

“No thanks,” declined the redhead. “I want to stay alive, thank you very much. And I would get tiger hair everywhere. Can’t you see it wants you to let it go?”

“Meh, you’re just jealous. We’re already best friends.”

“I doubt that. Which makes me think,” she turned towards Sanji, “you won’t be able to close, right? With the tiger here. Will Cannelle* be okay?”

The wizard scratched his chin, feeling the fatigue starting to weigh on his shoulders and the tingling desire for a cigarette of his lips. “I don’t know. I can’t leave the tiger here, much less walk into the streets with it. I could ask Usopp a favor, but I doubt he would like to stay with anything bigger than a dog in the same room. And I’d rather go see her by myself.” He let a long, tired sigh out, shoulders slumping. “I could make a spell to make the tiger invisible or something, but it would take long to prepare and I have no guarantee it would last long enough for us to get it to my house.”

“Want me to stay here while you go?”

Sanji blinked at her. “You would stay here? Alone with these two?” Luffy indignant _hey!_ went ignored. “What about the library? You had something planned.”

Nami just shrugged. “It seems like you could use a shower. And your cat will start to wonder when you’ll be home. Maybe you could bring her here?”

The redhead’s suggestion concerning the shower wasn’t probably made to comment on his body odors -at least he hoped so, but it still made him feel self-conscious. “I- I don’t know. I don’t want to leave you to deal with a tiger. What if something goes wrong?”

“Everything will go smoothly. Look, Luffy’s glued to it and it has yet to make a move to make him get off. It’s clear it won’t hurt anybody.”

“Still-” he tried to insist.

“Just go! You’re so damn stubborn all the time,” Nami scolded, her arms crossed over her chest. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I’m a grown woman.”

Sanji wanted to argue, but the look she gave him left no room for more of his conversation. Rubbing his nape sheepishly, he quietly agreed to go and proceeded to get his coat, asking her to call him if anything happened. She brushed his worry off, pushing him to the door so he could finally leave.

Once outside, Sanji spent a few seconds looking at the storefront of his shop, wondering if he should really let them alone for so long, then deciding the faster he did what he needed, the sooner he could come back.

◌○●○◌

Nami watched Sanji go from the inside of the shop. Once she was sure he wouldn’t come back, she turned on herself, glancing at Luffy who was still hugging the tiger. The latter seemed to have accepted his destiny and was just letting himself be handled.

Grabbing her bag she had dropped near the entrance, she settled at the counter before picking up a notebook and a pen alongside her laptop. Just because she wasn’t going to the library didn’t mean she could get things done. Sanji wouldn’t be back in a while and only having a ghost and a tiger for company wouldn’t make the time go any faster.

◌○●○◌

Sanji buried his nose in his scarf when the person in front of him coughed. He brought Cannelle closer to him and glanced at the display panel that was indicating the name of the upcoming station. There were still a few more until he had to get out.

The British Long Hair wiggled a bit his arm, looking at him expectantly. The wizard scratched her between the ears until she buried her snout in the hollow of his elbow. Gripping his messenger bag cautiously, he got up of his seat to wait in front of the doors when his station was announced.

The doors were hardly open when he stormed out of the subway, urging to reach the surface. He was greeted with the cold light of the sun at the end of the stairs and allowed himself to slow down. Letting his cat hop on his shoulders and get comfortable there, he made his way to the shop.

The break he had gotten had cleared a bit of his tiredness, but he soon would need a good night’s sleep. Until then, he had a tiger to watch over. Since he couldn’t bring too many things with him, he mentally listed the necessities he would have to buy the next day to be able to stay at his shop for as long as needed. Food for not only him and the tiger, but for Cannelle too. Shampoo and soap he hadn’t bothered to take with him. Probably one or two pillows and other things he would remember later.

Fishing a cigarette, he sighed to himself before lighting it, taking a first drag in the aftermath. He was starting to seriously consider just casting a spell to the tiger so he could bring it back at his place. A morphing one, a shortening one or even a cloaking one. But the problem with spells like these, which were altering a living being’s physical appearance was that they were a pain to cast and Sanji wasn’t sure if they would react well with the curse, since it seemed to be a shifting one. It would be a risky move, but he could try in the intimacy of his shop when he would be bored to death. And if it succeeded, at least he would be able to move the tiger elsewhere.

The street where his shop was located was calm when he finally made it there. Cannelle had curled her body all around his neck and was currently purring lowly in his ear. Sanji hoped the tiger and her would get along well. The last thing he needed was a territory battle. But his cat was naturally calm and nice, and the tiger seemed fine. Knowing the British Long Hair, she would probably try to make friends with the other feline straightaway.

He took a final drag of his dying cigarette, crushing the stub and throwing into a near trash can before pushing the front door of the shop. He spotted Nami at the counter as she waved at him, pulling her reading glasses higher on her nose as she straightened on the stool.

“Everything went alright?” He inquired, letting Cannelle hopped on the floor and shedding his coat.

“Yeah, yeah,” she assured. She closed her laptop, putting it back in her bag alongside her notebook. “Luffy has alternated between bothering the tiger and trying to lift stuff. I had to scream at him a few times.”

Crouching next to the cat, she cooed at her while petting her fur, marveling at its softness. Sanji smiled at the sight before reaching into the bag he brought, calling Luffy over. The ghost appeared in the doorway, holding a carton box, which he promptly dropped at the sight of the little box Sanji was getting out of the bag.

“Is that a meal? For me?! Sweet!” he screeched, running to get his hands on the Tupperware while the wizard prayed the content of the carton box was intact.

“Goddammit, Luffy! You really want me to kick your ass back to the graveyard? I can also banish you there for an undetermined amount of time! You hear me?”

“Yeees there’s meat in there! You’re the best!”

“You complimenting me won’t cancel the threats,” Sanji growled, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “Bear that in your fucking ghost mind.”

Luffy started eating obliviously. Sanji swore he would kill the dead kid someday. He would find a way. Shaking his head, he got up, casting a glance at the tiger. It hadn’t moved a bit and was currently sitting on his back feet, curiously looking at Cannelle who was being cajoled by Nami. Both felines were staring at each other, ears perked forward. A good sign.

“I’ve got to get going,” Nami announced after placing Cannelle back on the counter. “Vivi texted me, I’ll go get lunch with her.”

“Is that a date?” Sanji wondered idly, sending a swift smile in her direction.

“Is it if we go eat takeout pitas?”

“I believe dates can be whatever we want them to be.”

“You’re a helpless romantic,” she commented, giving him a light tap on the shoulder before putting on her coat. “You should get some sleep too. You seem tired.”

Sanji hummed, lifting a hand to his eyes to rub them reflexively. They were droopy, he knew that, but he couldn’t let himself get some rest before he had found a way to move the tiger to a safer place. The shop was fine for the time being, but keeping a wild beast in the middle of Paris wasn’t exactly a great idea.

“Say hello to Vivi for me, please?”

“Will do!” Sending kisses his way and waving at Luffy, she exited the shop, jogging away, a smile on her lips.

“Vivi’s making her so happy,” Luffy commented, engulfing the last bit of his meal. “I’m glad for her. Vivi’s a great girl. Didn’t even get afraid of me the first time she saw me.”

“One’s ability not to lose their cool when they encounter a ghost for the first time doesn’t make them good or bad. But I have to agree with you for Vivi; she’s a wonderful woman.”

“Are they going to get married?”

Sanji laughed. “As much as I want them to be forever happy together, I think it’s too early to ask ourselves that.” He approached the tiger to give him a bit more meat I had in his fridge and watched it eat. “You look better, big boy.”

The feline stared at him, licking its chops lazily. The wizard was under the impression it was trying to make him understand something, but he couldn’t put the finger on what exactly. Reaching tentatively to feel the fur on top of its head, he wondered what could have happened to it that caused it to lose itself in Paris, famished and freezing.

The tiger lowered his gaze after a moment, landing it on Cannelle who had approached and was rubbing herself on her owner’s shin. Both stared at each other for a moment and sniffed the air for another before tacitly accepting each other’s presence. Sanji wondered if Cannelle sensed something in the tiger the same way he and Robin had.

“Are you going to name the tiger?” Luffy’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He threw him a surprised look.

“Why would I? I don’t plan on becoming familiar with it, and it probably has a name already. If it’s a human, of course.”

“Why not?” Luffy shrugged, “How will you refer to it then?”

“The tiger. Doesn’t it seem obvious?”

“Lame.”

Sanji felt a vein pop up on his temple. “Oh yeah? Well, then I’m gonna find the best name for this stupid animal. Just watch me.”

“Name it Tigrou*!”

“No fucking way. Not even in a billion year. How do you even know about a character in a child’s show?”

“None of your business,” Luffy pouted, lips perking childishly.

Sanji rolled his eyes, turning back to the tiger. He had always liked visual names and wanted to find something that matched the tiger, like he did with Cannelle and her golden fur. Scrutinizing the tiger’s, he found it was a dark orange, turning almost red with the light of the shop.

“Safran*,” he said instantly, the word falling off his lips naturally. The tiger didn’t bat an eye, but Sanji found it was fitting anyway. “Safran will do until we found its true name.”

“Safran? Like the spice? Why?”

“Yes, like the spice. And because his fur looks like it.”

Luffy seemed to be satisfied enough with the justification and let the subject go. Stretching and stifling a yawn, Sanji got back up and decided to go look for a spell that will allow him to move the tiger without causing panic. He listed all the spells he could think about, and firstly opted for a transparency one. It was the easiest one to cast and one the curse was less likely to reject.

Picking up his fountain pen, he sat down next to the tiger, approaching the pointy tip carefully towards its head to draw the seal on it, watching for any bad reflex coming from the feline. Albeit not growling defensively, it put its ears flat against its head, looking displeased by what could happen to it.

Sanji hushed it and waited a moment before trying again, putting a hand between the ears to flatten the hair there, applying the seal with infinite meticulousness, making sure the ink was applied on the skin and not on the fur. The tiger emitted a few frustrated growls but let itself be handle until Sanji removed his hands.

The wizard clicked his tongue in annoyance when the tiger’s physical appearance didn’t disappear like was supposed to do. “Shit, maybe the curse has something to do with that. If spells won’t work on it, it will make things way harder for me.”

“How can the curse do that?” Asked Luffy.

“I can’t say for the moment. But there must be something with the curse that prevents people like me to use spells on it. The caster must be talented, as well as an asshole. Only messed up people would do something like that.”

“Maybe they did it for a reason?”

“Like what?” Sighed Sanji. “Because the tiger’s evil? Nah, I don’t think so. If the caster wanted to punish it for something it did, he wouldn’t have used the shape of a tiger prima facie. Who would change someone into a tiger? I’d choose something less dangerous. Like a hamster. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Then why?”

“I don’t know, Luffy,” the wizard moaned. “I only know transparency spells don’t work, and the others won’t too.”

“How can you be sure about that if you don’t try?”

“Because it isn’t just the curse rejecting the spell I drew. If it was a simple rejection, there would’ve been a reaction nonetheless, a little something to show me it won’t work because the curse is opposed to it. Here, nothing. I could have drawn a penis on its head and it would’ve done the exact same reaction, which is none. It’s like the curse is making the tiger immune to magic.”

“That sucks.”

“It sure does,” Sanji agreed, pulling his phone out to text Robin about his discovery, or rather his lack of it. “If only I knew what was the core of the curse, then I could find ways to bypass the rules it has established.”

“Maybe you could find hints on that weird drawing Safran has on his belly?”

Sanji jerked his head towards Luffy. “What did you say?”

“About the drawing? Safran has one that looks like your spells on his belly. You didn’t know?”

“Why didn’t you tell me when you noticed it?!”

“I thought you knew! Look,” the ghost pointed out the general direction of the tiger’s belly. “It’s there, hidden below the white hair.”

Unceremoniously, Sanji pushed the tiger until it was lying on his side. The abrupt change displeased it and it bared its fangs to the wizard with a growled protest, but Sanji brushed it off. If the tiger chose to be menacing now, he would kick its ass on the spot.

Passing a hand through the mess of white fur on a soft belly, Sanji located the seal on the upper side of the stomach, at the center of the thoracic cage. A brief glance was enough to tell it was huge, bigger than any common spell. There were what seemed to be an infinite number of symbols crisscrossing in an entanglement of geometric forms, making the most complex seal Sanji had ever witnessed.

“Damn,” he murmured, “that’s one hell of a curse. It would take days to decipher its entire meaning.”

“You can read it?”

“Kinda. The symbols themselves are easy to recognize, but giving a sense to each combination will take time and certainly won’t be easy. I don’t even know where to start.”

Sanji took a few pictures of some patches of the seal and promptly sent them to Robin. She would love to decrypt this curse. “Alright, so now I have a tiger saddled with the most impressive curse I’ve ever seen in my shop, and I’m unable to use magic on it to move it elsewhere. Great. Fucking superb.”

“None of your magic will work at all?”

“Maybe. Depends on the limits of the curse.” Rubbing his hands on his face, Sanji let himself fall back until he was lying on the ground, facing the ceiling. “Physical alterations don’t work, that’s one thing I’m sure of. Major ones, at least. Minor ones, like changing the color of the fur could work, but it won’t be of any use.” He breathed a pained grunt, feeling the beginning of a headache dawn on his temples. “My last option is creating a portal from here to my place. It’s going to be a pain to make.”

Luffy stayed silent and Sanji took advantage of it to stay down, staring at nothing in particular. God, he wanted his bed. And a glass of fine wine. Above all, he desperately wanted to smoke a whole pack of cigarettes.

“I’ve heard portals are hard to make. It’s true?”

“Yeah, they are. Portals are a whole domain of magic and some wizards specialize solely in it because of their difficulty. That’s why I didn’t go for this option straight away.

“Portals are virtual doors created to allow physical bodies to travel. If badly done, 90% of the time, they just don’t work. The other 10% of the time, one is risking their body or gets lost into the void. That’s why it’s so long to create: they need to be prepared and checked to avoid accidents. They’re also large spells to draw and need to be strictly identical on the surfaces they join. Everything about them is difficult.”

“It shouldn’t be so hard for you, right?” Luffy’s head loomed over his, a bright smile stretching his lips. “You’re the best wizard I know, after all!”

“I’m the only wizard you know,” Sanji chuckled.

“There’s Robin!”

“Robin is a medium, it’s different. She would make a wonderful wizard, though, and she knows things about witchcraft that I don’t on multiple domains. Anyway,” he sat back up, “I’ve got to make the portal. If not today, it will be useful in the near future.”

“You look tired tho. You should sleep.”

“Not before I finish preparing the spell. It’s not like I’ll manage to sleep comfortably here anyway.”

“If you say so.”

Sanji smiled at him reassuringly, getting up to get a notebook to scribble on. The advantage he had was that he knew very well the two places he wanted to connect. Coming with the core of the spell won’t be the hardest part.

While he tried various combinations, Luffy stayed besides him, asking questions here and there. Sanji wasn’t duped, he knew the ghost was doing this on purpose to make the whole task less of a chore. He was grateful for that, and happily answered the questions of his first. Talking to someone was also a way not to nod off while drawing.

Hours flew by faster than anticipated and soon, dusk was darkening the sky. Though it wasn’t late by any mean, it gave Sanji the impression he had wasted a day of his life, a day off to boot. The counter was now entombed with multiple paper balls filled with failed drawings and erasures.

The wizard was on his second break of the day, smoking a craved cigarette. Something was bugging him, like he had forgotten something, but he couldn’t remember what. The more he tried to figure out what it could be, the more his headache was worsening. Therefore, he decided to let it go, hoping it wasn’t important.

Finishing his cigarette, he went back inside to the counter turned drawing desk. Luffy had fallen asleep against the tiger’s side, which seemed not to mind. Cannelle had done better by literally lying on top of the bigger feline, curled on herself and sleeping without a care in the world. The picture seemed to be coming straight from an adventure book written for children. It was strange, but kind of endearing, he had to admit.

At least, he was glad the tiger wasn’t dangerous. It was still probably due to its state, but it was a tranquil animal and Sanji was positive it wouldn’t attack anyone just because. It was reassuring but increasing the number of questions he had concerning the curse it was afflicted with.

Why had the tiger been cursed, to begin with? Why was the seal so complex? Why a tiger and not another animal? Where did it come from? For how long had it been in this state? Who had done this to it? Was there really nothing to fear about it? Would he find a way to turn it back to a human?

So many questions he wanted answers to. Most would be answered with time, he could only be patient. With Robin’s help, they would be able to progress faster.

Casting a tired glance to his notebook, he skimmed through the remarks he had put here and there before deciding he had done enough for the day. His headache was only making the task impossible to focus on and he wasn’t thinking straight anymore. He closed the notebook, setting it aside with a few ripped off pages to make space, and slumped his forearms on the surface before burying his face in them.

Not a minute later, he was out.

◌○●○◌

A loud crash and a horrified scream were what woke him up with a start. He abruptly straightened, casting a bewildered look around the shop until his eyes landed on a visibly scared Usopp.

Oh! Shit. That was what he had forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cannelle [kanɛl] = cinnamon  
> Tigrou [tigʁu] is the French name of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.  
> Safran [safʁã] = saffron  
> Side note: Cannelle and Safran were actual names given by my grandparents to their late ponies they took care of a while ago. They were sweet and I will forever miss them.  
> Thank you for reading, comments and kudos are appreciated <3


	3. A portal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanji made a portal and a discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Sorry for the delay since the last chapter. It's too hot to think.
> 
> Please enjoy!

“What the _fuck_ is _that_?!” Usopp asked in a high-pitched tone.

It was still too damn early, and Sanji couldn’t bring himself to be sympathetic with the poor guy. He was tired, his arms were swarming with sleepiness and his neck hurt. Needless to say, he wasn’t in a fantastic mood.

“It’s a tiger. Come on, ‘Sop.”

“Don’t say that like it a perfectly normal situation because it isn’t! There’s a wild beast in the shop!”

Sanji stared at him for a few long seconds, eventually deflating a bit and took a long, suffering inspiration, pressing the palms of his hands against his eyes until spots danced against his eyelids.

“Listen,” he started, gesturing to the tiger. “It’s not feral. I’d even say it’s quite nice. Everything is fine, alright?”

Apparently, it was not. Usopp gave him a bewildered look from the spot where he was hiding, the front-door placed between his body and the tiger, his head the only part of his body currently visible. Showing just enough to be able to get a look inside the shop. It was ridiculous, but didn’t lighten Sanji’s mood nonetheless.

“Why didn’t you warn me about that?” His coworker asked, sounding somewhat betrayed.

“I forgot,” Sanji sighed. “I’m sorry. Yesterday has been hectic and it went over my head. I assure you have nothing to fear. Look, Luffy is still sleeping like a baby next to it,” he gestured to the boy, “your scream didn’t even manage to wake him up.”

“Luffy’s _dead_ , the tiger probably can tell by the smell and knows eating him isn’t worth anything. He isn’t afraid of anything anyway.”

The wizard rolled his eyes and got up with exaggerated slowness, padding towards the tiger until he was able to reach it with his hand and gave a brief pat on its head. It only griped a bit under the bemused stare of Usopp.

“See? By the way, I named it Safran.”

“Why would you name a wild animal!?” Usopp squealed. “Have you lost your mind?”

Sanji gave him an unimpressed look. With a swift wiggle of the wrist and a few words, an abrupt airstream pushed Usopp inside the shop before the door was promptly closed.

“You’re cruel,” sobbed his friend as he got up on his feet, putting as much distance between him and the tiger as he could.

“You were bringing the cold inside with that open door and didn’t seem eager to come in. I had to help you a bit. Come on now, get it together. I need your help.”

At that, Usopp perked up. “For what?”

“Creating a portal. Your talent for drawing will be really useful.”

“Why do you need one?”

“To move the tiger to my place. It will be better to keep it there than here, isn’t it? And the more efficient we are, the sooner you will get rid of that terrifying monster.”

Arching a suggestive brow, Sanji waited for Usopp to make a decision. The man gave a stern look to the tiger before looking at the wizard, then back at the tiger. Discomfort was clear on his face as he weighed his options, but eventually resigned himself with a small, reluctant nod.

“Great!” Sanji exclaimed, clapping his hands once. “I have yet to finish designing the seal, so maybe you could run a few errands for me in the meantime.”

“Hey! Wait a second. What am I? Your servant?”

The wizard offered him a devilish smile. “Oh? So you’d rather stay here with the tiger while _I_ go? How nice of you, I’ll be able to get some fresh air.”

Usopp visibly paled, the defensive grip he had on the strap of his bad tightening. “I’ll go! Alright! We don’t have to come to such extremities. And you seem tired, it’s better if I go. I wouldn’t forgive myself for letting you do all the hard work.”

Sanji rolled his eyes, a contented smirk on his lips. He wouldn’t have thought Usopp’s nonsense would be what would put him in a better mood. Getting a scrap of paper and a pen, he listed the things Usopp needed to get before handing it to him. His coworker scanned it and his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Wait, twenty kilograms of meat? That much?”

“For Safran. He’d be a shame if it saw in us its next meal.”

“Let’s get forty kilograms,” Usopp mumbled with a wobbly voice, taking the pen out of Sanji’s hand to change the number hastily. “Anything else?”

“Nope. Everything is on the paper.”

Usopp nodded and didn’t wait any signal to fly out the shop faster than he ever had. Sanji watched him go, shaking his head before going to make a small breakfast. He was soon joined by Luffy, who se hand was half stuck in his head as he tried to rub his eyes.

“Seems like the spell is wearing off,” Sanji observed. “I’ll redo it later if you want. You missed Usopp by a few moments by the way.”

“Yeah? Why did he leave so soon then?” the ghost inquired, pulling on his arms until he unstuck his fist. “I could join him!”

“I asked him to get a few things for me. And do so if you want but at least let me redo the seal before you go. A half-transparent boy wandering in the streets won’t look good.”

“Hurry up then!”

Sanji complied absentmindedly, letting Luffy steal his breakfast before running out of the shop to go after Usopp.

“They’re all so energetic so early,” the wizard complained halfheartedly, going back to the counter to sip his coffee without hurry.

He glanced at the tiger. The beast was up, looking around itself like it was discovering the place just now, sniffing the content of shelves and poking around, getting used to the room. It looked better with the rest and meals it had gotten the day before, despite still being slim.

It rounded the shop a few times, pacing in the shop like he would in a cage. Sanji knew it certainly wanted to go outside to get a proper walk, but it was impossible in its state. And even if the portal had been ready to use, his flat wasn’t much bigger. He would have to come with a solution to get it outside of Paris where it would be able to move freely without an unwanted audience.

Letting Cannelle laying herself on the edge counter, he focused on the sketches he had left out the day prior. With clearer ideas, thinking was easier and he was able to finish the drawing by the time Usopp was back with Luffy on his heels. Food and water were given to Safran, the rest stocked in the fridge. Sanji briefed Usopp about the portal and showed him where he wanted it set up, which was the inside of a closet door.

“It’s important to be very precise with each stroke,” the wizard instructed. “The more both sides are identical, the better. I’ll do one in the shop while you do the other at my place. I put the order of the strokes on the sketch since we need to respect a certain sequence. It needs to be as large and tall as a door, which is why I want it done on one.”

Usopp studied the drawing for a few minutes, nodding at Sanji’s explanations and put it in his pocket. Sanji handed him some ink and a pen and watched Usopp go, amusement dancing in his eyes, snorting when the poor guy put all his efforts into skimming the walls furthest from the tiger.

The wizard moved some furniture to bare a portion of a wall big enough to receive the seal and got more ink for himself, waiting for Usopp to call him when he would be ready to start.

◌○●○◌

Usopp was used to spend a huge amount of time on a canvas. He could draw and paint for hours long without feeling them pass. The satisfaction that resulted from a finished piece was such that he didn’t mind pulling an all-nighter to get ongoing work done.

Working on the portal spell was harder than what he had imagined, though. The precision required for each stoke was maddening and starting to give him cold sweats. He was still getting instructions from Sanji through his phone and from the sound of it, the wizard was getting a bit tired as well.

After closing a circle at the center of the seal, Sanji’s voice informed him of the next and finale traits they were going to do. A series of arrows and bows entangled in the circle facing the center of the door where the coordinates of the portal had been carved previously.

“What now?” Usopp asked afterward, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand and taking a few steps back to get an overview of the seal.

It was strangely beautiful to look at. The meticulousness of each element gave it the eerie aura of magic Usopp was yet to get accustomed to. The curves were curling themselves around long straight lines that connected each corner of the door before pointing towards the center, demarcating the areas allocated to each cardinal point.

The details of each tiny figure were giving depth to the seal and Usopp was only realizing now how many of them he had carved on the door, filling almost all the space available.

“I’m going to run a test to make sure everything is alright,” replied Sanji.

On the phone, he could hear some soft noises indicating Sanji was rummaging around. A few moments later, the seal of the portal started glowing lightly, the dark ink turning a gold shade, and a paper ball emerged from it, rolling on the ground a little before coming to a halt.

“Have you received something?” Sanji asked.

“A paper ball appeared,” Usopp answered, crouching to pick it up.

“Can you open it and make sure the text inside is still readable?”

Usopp complied, smoothing the ball out. It was a page from some newspaper. He read some random sentences out lout, checking the coherence of the text until Sanji was satisfied enough.

“So it’s ready? I can, like, pass through it?”

“Yeah,” Sanji chuckled, “that’s the point of the portal. Are you doubting its safety?” He added when Usopp didn’t answer right away.

“You know I don’t,” he answered quickly, hesitating to take a step closer. “But it’s the same unpleasant sensation I’d feel before getting into a roller coaster. But you know I love roller coasters anyway.”

Suddenly, Luffy’s head popped through the portal, making him jump in surprise.

“That’s so cool!” The ghost marveled. “You should do more of these, Sanji!”

“Yeah, yeah, but no. No thanks.”

Shortly after that, the communication went dead and Sanji appeared in the room alongside Luffy. Usopp watched him examine his handiwork, nodding one final time at the whole drawing, visibly satisfied with his job.

“Thanks for the help, I knew I could count on you.”

“Anytime,” Usopp smiled, giving him the thumbs up. “Not sure I’d do that every day, still. My hands haven’t been so stiff in a long time. Wizardry stuff sure is tough.”

“Portals are a pain in the ass to realize,” Sanji agreed. “I’m glad I don’t have to make them daily. Though I like the challenge.”

The seal glowed anew, letting a curious Cannelle surface from the door. She mewed at them and rubbed herself against Sanji’s legs, earning a tender pet in exchange.

“So what now?” Usopp inquired, scooping the cat in his arms as she approached him.

“We’ll move the tiger in here and I’ll get the longest nap ever.”

Sanji didn’t wait to go back to the shop and Usopp followed him, still dreading a bit the crossing. Although he was working alongside a wizard, he didn’t experiment witchcraft or wizardry directly very often and that was still making him lowkey uncomfortable.

He got fairly surprised when the feeling of the portal on his skin wasn’t far from silk, making it seem like a soft veil. His vision blurred as he sunk into it, the sealed door of Sanji’s apartment turning into the back room of the shop.

Still confused by the ephemeral trip, he put Cannelle down and reached out to touch the wall beside the seal. Just like expected, his fingertips encountered the solid bricks and Usopp took a short breath to let it all sink in. Next to his hand, the seal glowed anew, letting Luffy pass in a hurry before turning back to dark ink. It was weird how he made him believe Sanji’s flat had always been situated behind a silky curtain, which now wasn’t far from the truth.

A wobbly smile of giddiness made its way on his lips. Wizardry was fantastic.

◌○●○◌

Getting the tiger to move through the portal had been a bit harder than expected. The beast hadn’t been willing to let itself be pushed against a wall, and it had taken all three of them to drive it through the portal until they had been well passed the other side, though Usopp had looked on the verge of fainting at the beginning.

Once it had understood they had changed of environment, the tiger had shaken itself out of its confusion and had decided the corridor was an ideal place to nap. Sanji had eyed it, unimpressed, and had judged he had done enough since he had first met the beast.

After a while, Usopp went back to the shop, dragging a reluctant Luffy with him. Sanji watched them go, reminding his coworker to close the shop once he finished his shift since he probably wouldn’t be awake by the time the sun was set.

As soon as he was alone, the wizard went to his room and collapsed on his welcoming bed. He barely had the presence of mind to shed his clothes before a wave of fatigue pushed him straight into Morpheus’s arms.

When he woke up, his room was in the dark, the only light available being the orange one produced by streetlamps. It was just enough to discern the shape of the furniture, as well as the human silhouette standing in the doorway.

As soon as his eyes landed on it, Sanji’s blood froze in his veins and he stood up, reaching out with his hand to cast a defensive spell out of reflex. It sent the silhouette flying through the corridor with a surprised yell and Sanji took advantage of it to switch on the light, ready to cast another spell.

He discovered a man laying on the far end of the corridor, a dumbfounded look on his face. Sanji judged he was in his twenties, had dark hair and asian traits. His cheeks were hollow and he overall looked slim. But it was only when the wizard noticed he was wearing _his_ clothes that he suspected the guy wasn’t a simple intruder.

“Are you the tiger?” He asked, brows knit in suspicion.

The man didn’t answer and looked even more confused than a few seconds ago. Sanji bit his lips and repeated his question in English, hoping the guy didn’t stay quiet for a bad reason. A flash of comprehension crossed his features and he straightened on his bottom slowly as not to provoke a bad reaction from Sanji.

“ _Yes, I’m the tiger,_ ” he answered in a pronounced accent Sanji couldn’t recognize.

Tension partly left Sanji’s shoulders and he allowed himself to approach him in a slow, calculative pace, waiting to see if it was a trap. The man got up on his feet and looked at the wizard. A pregnant silence filled the space when neither of them knew what to say. A strange feeling weighed on Sanji’s stomach as the tension resurfaced gradually and a spell tickled the tip of his fingers.

Cannelle suddenly appeared in the corridor, not hesitating to rub herself against the stranger’s legs. Sanji dropped his defensive stature straightaway and watched his cat purr at the man before him. If she didn’t smell anything hostile in him, then he could be sure he was not a menace in any way.

Huffing, he returned in his room to put some clothes on and gestured to the man to follow him in the living room where they sat on the couch, Cannelle settling on his lap.

“ _So, what’s your name?_ ” He inquired.

“ _Zoro._ ”

“ _Where are you from?_ ”

“ _Japan,_ ” the man said, confirming the feeling Sanji had about him.

The wizard nodded briefly, his gaze scrutinizing the other man. He wanted to say something about the clothes he had obviously taken from his wardrobe without his consent while he was sleeping, but now was not the time. They had more urgent things to talk about.

“ _So, tell me,_ ” he started, “ _why do you bear a curse that turns you into a tiger and how did you manage to get here?_ ”

Zoro’s brows furrowed in confusion as he struggled to try and start a coherent sentence in English. Sanji quickly understood he wasn’t fluent in this language and decided to make things easier for both of them. Gesturing him to stop his incomprehensible speech, he stood up to get some ink and a pen and went back to stand right before Zoro, who looked at him warily.

“ _Don’t move,_ ” Sanji warned before approaching the pen to the man’s throat.

Zoro leaned back defensively, a hard stare on his face. “ _What are you trying to do?_ ”

Without answering, Sanji went to grad his jaw in the left hand to steady his face, tilting it back to get better access to his throat while he swiftly drew the spell. Under his touch, Zoro was gesticulating to break free and the wizard just had the time to finish the seal before the man succeeded in extracting himself from his grip.

“ _The fuck is wrong with you?!_ ” Zoro shouted, holding a hand to his throat instinctively, but Sanji grabbed his wrist to prevent him to touch the seal.

“Wait until it’s dry,” he instructed in French.

Zoro made a face as realization settled in his mind. He stayed silent for a few seconds and Sanji took advantage of his silence to put the ink and pen away.

“I never learned French,” the man said carefully. “I’m not supposed to know how to understand nor speak it.”

“It’s the spell I cast on your throat,” Sanji responded, sitting back on the couch. “You didn’t seem comfortable enough in English so I drew a seal that allows you to speak French. It’s easier like that.”

Zoro eyed him suspiciously, like the wizard had just added a second curse to the first one.

“It’s ephemeral. It will wash off in the shower,” Sanji assured.

The man didn’t seem convinced by it and rubbed the skin on his neck by reflex. Sanji’s eyes landed on his prominent collarbone and his stare hardened. He couldn’t look away for a moment, a question burning his lips. But before he could put it into words, Zoro dropped his hand and Sanji looked up at him.

“You’re not familiar with witchcraft and wizardry, are you?”

“Not really,” Zoro huffed, slumping on the couch. He seemed tired, in over his head.

That would explain his reaction concerning the seal on his throat. It made Sanji want to know how he ended up with this curse.

“How about you tell me what happened to you since the very beginning?” He suggested.

Cannelle, who had moved when the wizard had gotten up to draw the seal, had relocated herself on Zoro’s lap, who didn’t say anything about it. He even buried a hand in her fur to pet her and she purred in response.

“I can’t remember well what happened when I first turned into a tiger, it’s very confused. I just know I was doing my morning run in the wood near my place in Japan. I don’t remember being attacked, but I must have lost consciousness at some point because I remember waking up laying on the ground.

“I didn’t recognize the place I was in. I was in a cage, certainly not in the wood anymore. It looked like some kind of warehouse. I had this weird drawing on the chest that I didn’t have before, like a tattoo. I tried to rub it off, but it wouldn’t fade. At the time, I was too confused to panic, but I knew something was wrong.

“I have many holes in my memory starting this point. I stayed in the cage for what felt like days, though it’s probably not a good estimation since there was no way to know what time it was. When I came back to myself from a blackout, there always was some food in the case that wasn’t there before, so I knew there were people present somewhere.

“Once, I somehow managed to recall some events that were missing. I remember felling bestial, like I wasn’t human anymore. When I next woke up, I was human again, and I kind of thought I was having weird hallucinations. This went on and on for a time, and I was starting to think I was going crazy.

“One day, I woke up to the cage being moved. Turns out I was on a ferry. I ended up in a jeep and we drove for a bit before stopping at a decaying warehouse outside of a city. From the look of the buildings and people, I guessed I had ended up somewhere in Orient.”

Sanji’s guts knotted with uneasiness as he understood what was the next part of the tell. “Black market?” He asked and Zoro nodded sternly.

“I wasn’t the only one there. There was a lot a people like me waiting to get sold to rich bastards who wanted a slave,” Zoro let a dark sneer out. “Men, women, even kids from all over the world. When I first saw some of them change into the beast they were cursed with, I understood that I hadn’t gone crazy and that it had something to do with the weird tattoo. We all had a similar one somewhere on the body.”

He sighed, his gaze getting lost somewhere on the table before him. His features hardened subtly for a short moment at the memory before easing.

“I don’t remember how I ended up outside my cage one night,” he resumed. “I probably transformed and forced my way out of it by rage. I was acting out of adrenaline. I was able to free a good half of the warehouse before some assholes working there noticed what was happening.

“Everything went out of control. Those guys don’t have morals; they started shooting at any living thing when they realized they couldn’t force us to go back inside our cages. I manage to get out thanks to the general confusion. Since then, I never stopped walking.”

Sanji licked his lips before biting them, crossing his fingers to prevent them from clutching the fabric of his sweatpants. “You crossed all of Europe until there?”

“Seems like it,” Zoro shrugged. “I wanted to go back to Japan. Somehow ended up here. I would have continued on my way if you and that hyperactive kid didn’t find me.”

The wizard was at a loss of words for a moment. The story of this man seemed farfetched, almost unbelievable, but it didn’t make him doubt his word. No wonder Luffy and he had found him in a famished state. Walking from someplace in Orient to the very center of Paris mush have taken months.

Sanji put a hand in his hair, ruffling the bangs distractedly while he replayed the tell in his head. A loud growl pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked at the other man who was trying to dissimulate his slight embarrassment by turning his face away.

“Alright,” Sanji said, getting on his feet. “I’ll cook something. You look like you could use a nutritious meal.”

He padded to the kitchen and got to work, choosing a simple and quick recipe that would fill both their stomachs. While the chicken fillets cooked in the pan, he pulled out two plates and glasses, setting them on the table.

Zoro had joined him in the kitchen, sitting at the bar with Cannelle nestled on his shoulders. The sight made him smile, but he turned away to check on the vegetables. A few more minutes was enough to finish cooking the chicken and add it to the vegetables in the plates. Pushing one toward Zoro, he motioned to him to start eating while he settled on the stool next to him.

“I guess you don’t know how the curse work,” Sanji said after the first bite.

Zoro shook his head, “I can’t remember well most of my transformations, and the changing phase is the worst. I just know it hurts like hell.”

“Figured,” the wizard mumbled. “And you have no idea what triggers the transformation?”

“Nope,” Zoro denied, mouth full.

A little grimace crossed Sanji’s face but he held back the remark he was about to make. Zoro finished his plate much quicker than expected and he offered the rest of his plate since he wasn’t that hungry. He watched the man eat, his head resting in his palms. Cannelle hadn’t budged from her spot on his shoulders and was sniffing the air, the smell of cooked chicken making her curious.

“What’s its name?” asked Zoro when he noticed him looking at the cat.

“Cannelle. She seems to like you.”

“Cannelle huh?” He repeated, and the British Long Hair mewed at the call of her name. “She sure is a loud girl.”

Sanji offered him a smile. “That’s because she’s deaf. She likes to make herself known but doesn’t know how loud she actually is.”

Zoro raised a hand to scratch her chin and she leaned into her, a pleasant rumble accompanying it. “She’s, like, a familiar or something? You wizards really have that sort of things?”

“Not exactly,” Sanji chuckled. “It’s quite old-fashioned, actually. Some of us still have one. And yes, she’s my familiar, though she spends most of her time like any other cat.”

He watched Zoro ruffle the fluffs of Cannelle’s fur before his eyes landed on his face. The hollow cheeks and prominent collarbone were hard not to see and focus on, but at least he could do something about it now. A few weeks will be enough to fully recover from the near starvation Zoro had to go through, and hopefully everything will turn out alright.

For now, though, he still had a curse to figure out and cancel, as well as a man without any kind of identity documents on him. Zoro was basically an illegal immigrant, though not through choice, and Sanji didn’t know how they will manage to send him back to Japan.

Picking his phone up, he left Robin a quick message summering the latest events. He hoped she had found some interesting stuff concerning Zoro’s condition that will allow them to progress.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are appreciated <3


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